Dusty Nikon FE

HobosrFresh · Dec 30, 2012

Just found my dad's old nikon fe in the attic and I am super excited to get this thing into shape again. Now I am new to this forum and have little to none photography experience so naturally, I have to learn. Tomorrow I'm going in to the local camera shop to see if they have any batteries to the camera and also get the camera checked out to see if everything is in working condition. With the camera body I found a Tokina AT-X 28-85mm. Now my dad also says he has a couple of Nikkor lens in his camera bag which he can't find :x. So my question is if these lens sound good or not? Also can somebody guide me to a photography book that will cover all the things I need to learn? Thanks for reading.

Jeffcs · Dec 31, 2012

Go to a book store on photography

Read from the net

Learn the camera basics

Get slide film

Shoot shoot shoot

HobosrFresh · Dec 31, 2012

Thanks for the feedback. much appreciated

bsinmich · Dec 31, 2012

The 28-85MM lens will go from a wide angle at 28 to a moderate telephoto at the 85MM end. 50mm is considered the normal lens and anything with a lower number is going to wide angle. Anything higher is telephoto. A 100 mm lens would be equal to a 2X telephoto and a 200MM wouild be a 4X tele. The 75-85 range would be great for portraits because it does not exagerate features like noses and ears. The longer the lens the more difficult to handhold for shorter exposures. You not only increase the size of the image but also any shake gets magnified the same way. I understand the above comment to get slide film because what you get on the slide is exactly the film that went through the camera. A print from a negative can always be adjusted in printing and not tell you how close you were on exposure. I have shot slides for years but have given up on them because of the difficulty of setting up the screen and projector and getting anyone but me to look at them.

Mully · Dec 31, 2012

Go here and download the manual ..... http://www.cameramanuals.org/nikon_pdf/nikon_fe.pdf

BrianV · Dec 31, 2012

Get some "C-41 process color film", ie the standard available at Walgreens, Walmart, and many places. This type of film can be developed at those places like Walmart and walgreens with 1-hour service. This will give the fastest feedback for you.

The Nikkor lenses are first-rate, the Tokina zoom is good, and flexible. Bug Dad to find the Nikkors!

The FE uses two MS-76 batteries, also labeled AG-13 by some manufacturers. There is a Lithium 3v battery that also works. a "DL 1/3n".

HobosrFresh · Dec 31, 2012

Thanks everybody! Today I'm on a mission to find those lens and get my first shots in. I'll see how this works out.

HobosrFresh · Dec 31, 2012

So I went into the shop today to get new batteries and that was going well until they said my camera was jammed and that it would cost $100-150 dollars to repair... So now I'm deciding on whether or not to fix it. I'm pretty bummed.

compur · Dec 31, 2012

The FE always "jams" when the batteries die. Try this: Insert fresh batteries and then set the shutter speed knob to M90 to reset the shutter.

xposurepro · Dec 31, 2012

You can often pick up a working FE anywhere between $50-150 .. so I wouldn't pay for a fix unless of course you want to simply because it was your dads camera ... which is actually what I would do .. it's like a family photographic heirloom.

The Tokina is actually pretty sweet too. The AT-X lenses were their top of the line models. Its not a fast lens but it was great quality.

BrianV · Jan 1, 2013

compur said:
The FE always "jams" when the batteries die. Try this: Insert fresh batteries and then set the shutter speed knob to M90 to reset the shutter.

What Compur said, and : be sure to clean the contacts of the battery compartment, a pencil eraser usually works. I picked up a Nikon at a local thrift store, cleaning the contacts worked.